Tag Archive for Pepperdine University

The most dangerous intersections in deadly LA, injured Yaroslovsky staffer ID’d, and remembering Pepperdine PCH victims

October 17, 2025 / / No comments
Day 290 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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Thanks to Crosstown for analyzing Los Angeles Police Department data to determine the 20 most dangerous intersections in LA.

Particularly now that city officials longer seem to think we need to know such things.

Maybe because it points to what a colossal, stinking mound of crap they’ve given us when it comes to improving traffic safety here in the City of Angels.

Take Vision Zero, for instance.

Please.

In 2015, then-Mayor Eric Garcetti used an executive order to launch “Vision Zero,” an initiative designed to dramatically reduce traffic deaths through a wide-ranging set of proposed improvements to road design, education and more. Despite the aim of eliminating traffic deaths by 2025, road safety took a turn for the worse. This spring, the city released a lengthy audit of what went wrong.

Among the causes: Only half of the listed “actions” were ever completed. The plan lacked a program for accountability among city departments. There was poor coordination and diminishing participation from the LAPD’s traffic division.

In fact, traffic deaths have exceeded murders for the past three years. And already exceed the totals from 2015, with two full months to go.

The same with serious injury crashes, which have topped 1,500 for three years running, and likely will again.

The worst of the worst, though, is the notorious intersection of South Figueroa and Slauson.

Where South Figueroa crosses Slauson Avenue, bad things happen. Over the past four years, the intersection has been the scene of 17 felony hit-and-run collisions and five severe injuries. The crosswalks aren’t safe, either: seven pedestrians have been struck there.

All told, there were 66 serious collisions at the intersection, which is in the Vermont Slauson neighborhood in South Los Angeles, making it the most dangerous in the entire city during that period.

Then again, the rest of the South Figueroa corridor isn’t much better, with the intersections at Manchester, Florence and Gage also making the list.

Sepulveda makes the list three times, as does Western. Roscoe appears twice in just the top four, where it crosses Sepulveda and at Van Nuys.

Surprisingly, Sunset is only on there twice, where it crosses Highland, and a few blocks east at La Brea.

And Hollywood and Highland checks in a number 11. Which means it evidently wasn’t fixed in 2015 when all-way crossing was installed, after all.

So much for assurances from city officials.

Pedestrian deaths have exceeded the pre-Vision Zero totals for every single year after 2015, as have serious injuries and total traffic deaths.

Unfortunately, the stats don’t break out bicycling deaths, so we still don’t know how many bike riders have actually been killed on the mean streets of Los Angeles in recent years.

Other than too damn many.

Photo by Artyom Kulakov from Pexels.

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More on the hit-and-run crash that severely injured a staffer for CD5 Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky, and killed her beloved corgi.

The Beverly Press and Park LaBrea News identifies her as Thao Tran.

Never mind that I’ve known, and carefully avoided naming her, for two weeks now.

Tran, who serves as Yaroslavsky’s business development deputy, was taken to a hospital with multiple fractures. Kobe, who was frequently by Tran’s side at community events, died as a result of being struck by the pickup. Tran posted about the incident on Instagram on Oct. 13.

“It was one week ago on Sunday morning that a hit-and-run driver struck me and killed Kobe while starting our morning walk. I sustained three broken ribs, three fractured vertebrae, a fractured fibula and two fractures in my cheekbones that required surgery. Kobe … died at the ER vet,” Tran said. “I’m recovering at home now, mourning the loss of Kobe and trying to make sense of it all. I’ve received countless gifts of flowers, food and care packages and I’m sincerely grateful for belonging to such a generous and caring community. My injuries will eventually heal but the loss of Kobe is a heartache I’ve not felt since the loss of my parents.”

According to the paper, the driver, identified only as a Los Angeles woman in her 30s, allegedly ran the stop sign at Eighth Street and Cloverdale Ave around 8:30 am on Sunday, Oct. 5th.

She stopped briefly after striking them, then left the scene without getting out of her pickup, leaving Tran and her dog lying injured and bleeding in the street. She was released on her own recognizance after turning herself in later that day, pending charges of felony hit-and-run causing injury.

Police don’t believe she was under the influence at the time of the crash, although the delay in turning herself in means she could have had time to sober up, if she was.

If this whole damn thing has left you anywhere near as angry and heartbroken as I am, Tran asks for donations in Kobe’s memory to Queen’s Best Stumpy Dog Rescue, the corgi rescue she volunteers with.

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It’s hard to believe its just been two years since four Pepperdine students were brutally killed by a speeding driver, collateral damage after he crashed into a row of parked cars, which crashed into them as they waited to cross LA killer highway.

Streets Are For Everyone, aka SAFE, will host a press conference and remembrance today near the site of the crash, at the heartbreaking white PCH Ghost Tire Memorial.

Here is the group’s press release for the event, in case you want to attend all or part of it.

Honoring the Four Pepperdine Students
Killed on Pacific Coast Highway on the 2nd Anniversary of their Passing

October 17, 2025, Malibu, California –  On October 17, 2023, four Pepperdine University seniors — Niamh Rolston, Peyton Stewart, Asha Weir, and Deslyn Williams — were struck and killed by a speeding driver on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu while walking along PCH after parking their car. All four were members of the Alpha Phi sorority and beloved members of the Pepperdine community.

Their tragic deaths sparked a wave of grief and outrage throughout Malibu and beyond, renewing calls for safety improvements along PCH — one of California’s most dangerous roadways. The tragedy galvanized city, state, and community leaders to honor the memory of these four young women whose futures were cut short by taking action to prevent future loss of life.

October 17, 2025 is the 2nd anniversary of this tragedy. While the focus of the press event is to remember four young lives tragically cut short–and the work of making progress improvements will never fully measure up to the families’ grief of lives lost–the important work of paying tribute by improving public safety continues. The urgency of improving safety is never more acute than on October 17 when we pause to remember their lives.

When:
  • Friday, October 17, 2025
  • Press Conference: 2:30 – 3:00 PM
  • Remembrance Event: 4:00 – 5:00 PM
Where:
  • PCH Ghost Tire Memorial
  • Pacific Coast Highway and Webb Way
  • Roughly 23661 Pacific Coast Hwy, Malibu, CA 90265
PRESS CONFERENCE (2:30 – 3:00 PM)

Officials and advocates will honor the memory of the four Pepperdine students whose lives were tragically lost in 2023 and report on efforts to make the Pacific Coast Highway safer.

Confirmed Speakers:
  • Bridget Thompson, Roommate and close friends with Niamh, Peyton, Asha, and Deslyn (Opening remarks and emcee)
  • Senator Ben Allen, California State Senate
  • Lee Habor, Caltrans Representative
  • Rep for Supervisor Lindsey Horvath
  • Captain Jared I. Perry, CHP West Valley Area
  • Captain Dustin Carr, Lost Hills Sheriff’s Department
  • Councilmember Doug Stewart, City of Malibu
  • Michel Shane, Emily Shane Foundation & Fix PCH
  • David Rolston, Father of Niamh Rolston
REMEMBRANCE EVENT (4:00 – 5:00 PM)

Who: Open to the public — friends, families, students from Pepperdine University, and community members are all invited to attend.

Program:
  • Moment of Silence
  • Release of Four White Doves
  • Music by Skyla Woodward (vocals) and Alima Ovali (guitar), Pepperdine University students
  • Words of Remembrance: An open mic will be available for anyone wishing to share memories or reflections, guided by an emcee.
Memorial Benches Fundraiser

As part of the day’s events, Streets Are For Everyone, Fix PCH, and the Emily Shane Foundation are launching a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds for the installation of memorial benches at Point Dume in honor of the four girls.

This project began as Vinita Weir’s wish, in memory of her daughter, and has since been expanded — at the request of all family members — to honor all four Pepperdine students.

Donate or share the campaign here:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/PCH-Pepperdine-Student-Memorial

For more information about Malibu’s fight for a safer PCH, including press releases, documents and statistics, visit: www.MalibuCity.org/PCHsafety.

I am so damn sick of traffic violence.

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Streets For All is asking for people to turn out at 9 am Saturday to support their agenda for charter reforms in the City of Los Angeles, when they’ll be presenting to the Charter Reform Commission.

The meeting will take place at the Pacoima City Hall at 13520 Van Nuys Blvd.

Among their primary priorities are,

1. Make LADOT a chartered department that has responsibility to construct and maintain streets property line to property line, moving the Bureau of Street Services under LADOT.

Since being formed in 1979 under City administrative code, LADOT is responsible for planning nearly all of LA’s transportation projects without the ability to construct streets or sidewalks – a responsibility currently given to Public Works in the City Charter. Giving LADOT this authority would align LA with most large cities in the nation, where the department that manages streets safety and traffic flow also has the ability to effectively build and maintain streets and sidewalks.

2. Shore up street funding with a regular percent of city assessed property values.

LADOT and BSS have lost a significant number of staff in recent budgets and do not have the capacity to effectively deliver services in a timely manner. Currently in the City Charter, Parks and Rec and the Library departments are unique in receiving a dedicated percent of all taxable property values which ensures reliable funding for some of LA’s most vital public services. We believe streets, the City’s largest public space, should also be granted this privilege.

3. Change the City budget to a 2 year cycle and formalize a 5 year Capital Improvement Plan.

The benefits of both of these suggestions have been well researched and proposed by other groups, for the simple reason that not all infrastructure projects are going to fit neatly in a single city fiscal year. Long term planning can reduce costs and improve efficiency in delivering projects. While not every City formalizes a CIP in the City Charter, other large peer cities such as NYC, Houston, and San Jose do. A 2-year city budget and 5-year CIP process would allow departments to improve management of projects, staff capacity, and delivery timelines.

4. Replace the board of public works with a director position similar to other City departments.

The Board of Public Works is over 100 years old and has a unique management structure compared to other departments inside the City of LA by reporting to both a board and a director. It is also unique as a vehicle for structuring Public Works. The department should be run by a single director with a clear line of authority between the Mayor’s office, the department, and the Bureaus inside.

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Gravel Bike California goes riding in Big Bear.

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Nothing like a peaceful ride home, when suddenly a pub reaches out and grabs you by the collar.

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.

No bias here. After a stalled car caused a backup in morning rush hour traffic on a San Diego street, a local website naturally blamed bike lanes. But the very first comment linked to Momentum’s “comeback guide to all the anti-cycling arguments you’ll hear this year.”

City leaders in Leeds, England are calling for banning bicycles and ebikes from one of the busiest main streets in West Yorkshire, even though bikes represent just three percent of the 250,000 people who use the street every week. And once again, bicycles of every kind — both regular bikes and ped-assist ebikes — are lumped together with electric motorbikes, as one woman calls ebikes “a fatality waiting to happen.”

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Local 

The California Transportation Commission, which is different from Caltrans, has awarded a $6.4 million grant to extend the Ballona Creek bike path from its current northern terminus into Mid-City Los Angeles.

The Beverly Press introduces the new Hollywood Blvd bike lane sweeper unveiled by CD13 Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez, in partnership with Streets Are For Everyone.

Pasadena’s city council unanimously approved a $1.09 million contract to design greenways on four north–south corridors, despite a “divided” public debate.

Malibu will host a virtual community meeting with Caltrans from 6 pm to 7 pm this Wednesday to discuss the Quick-Build Roundabouts Project on PCH at El Matador State Beach and Encinal Canyon Road.

Calbike says LA County’s South Bay offers a case study in how car dependency dictates design.

 

State

More Orange County cities are considering cracking down on reckless ebike riding. But as usual, they don’t seem to distinguish between ped-assist ebikes and electric motorbikes. 

Westminster police busted a man with seven open felony warrants after a brief pursuit on his bicycle, and discovered he was carrying 200 grams of meth, 15 grams of fentanyl and “other items indicative of drug sales,” as well as being a convicted felon in possession of a gun. Although they don’t explain what justification they used to initiate a stop, let alone a police chase.

Rancho Cucamonga celebrated the opening of the Day Creek Channel Bike Trail with a seven-mile bike ride, after the path was extended by a mile-and-a-half.

A 44-year old man suffered severe injuries in a left-cross collision in Ventura when police say a driver turned in front of his ebike, impeding his right-of-way.

Now that’s how you do it. Police in Menifee conducted a bicycle and pedestrian safety operation, ticketing 23 people for not stopping for a cop in a crosswalk dressed in an inflatable dinosaur costume.

Palo Alto is planning to install separated bike lanes on three major thoroughfares on the south part of the city.

A pair of San Raphael men were termed “prolific bike thieves” after they were busted for stealing a number high-end ebikes, with police saying they had been arrested many times before for bike theft and drug possession.

San Mateo is working to revive a proposed 22-mile Grand Boulevard Initiative on El Camino Real, but will need Caltrans approval to replace parking with protected bike lanes. Which should be a given, considering the agency’s Complete Streets policy, but isn’t.

 

National

Now you, too, can have an ebike with a sidecar. Or as I call it, a corgi seat.

Cycling Savvy maps out how to successfully tame a multi-lane challenge.

Scientific American reminds us that a human on a bicycle is nature’s most efficient form of transportation, aside from a human in a velomobile. Although neither bicycles nor velomobiles were actually created by nature, but still. Thanks to Megan for the heads-up. 

No surprise here, as nearly 70 Bend, Oregon residents are reportedly “thrilled” after receiving $1,800 ebike rebates from the city. Which compares favorably to LA’s $0 rebates. 

A Las Vegas website says the deaths of two kids from traffic violence near city schools may be tragic and disturbing, but it’s “also predictable because of so many reckless Vegas drivers.” Kinda like drivers in every other American city. 

Philadelphia makes a change that will allow more bike lanes in the city, as long as you don’t mind sharing them with trucks being loaded and unloaded.

A new lawsuit alleges an NYPD officer intentionally swerved into a man as he was riding a mo-ped against traffic in a bike lane; the cop reported he swerved to avoid the victim, but surveillance video exactly the opposite.

The fiancée of a fallen North Carolina bicyclist tries to turn tragedy into life saving by urging the city council to use his death, as well as two other bicyclists who were also killed by a dump truck driver, as a catalyst to improve safety on local roads.

A Florida sheriff’s deputy crashed into a girl riding a bicycle while making a turn, but they don’t bother to explain how it happened, how old the girl is or if anyone was injured. Like the kid riding the bicycle, for instance.

 

International

Mountain biking website Off.Road.cc offers tips for making your night rides more enjoyable.

British Columbia bike advocates urge the local police to take a better approach to bike safety than cracking down on bike riders.

A British writer says you don’t really appreciate your bike commute until you start working from home, and don’t have one anymore.

They get it. Dublin, Ireland is working to encourage safer and more sustainable cycling by building up to 300 secure residential “Bike Bunker” storage units across the city.

Bicyclists in Bengaluru, India complain about the lack of safe infrastructure, and that what little they have is overrun by pedestrians and piled with dust and trash.

A Korean newspaper offers a simple guide to the country’s bikeways “for the uninitiated.”

 

Finally…

That feeling when you get DQ’d for your kinky seatpost. Now you, too, can get over $228,000 worth of bike parts and office furniture for a $3,500 bid.

And enjoy your aperitivo before dinner. But maybe after your next ride.

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Nobody bug me after 5:30 today. The Dodgers are up 3-0 and Ohtani’s pitching. 

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Malibu Canyon fire could affect today’s rides, Rohan Dennis cops guilty plea, and support Brand Blvd & Forest Lawn Drive

December 10, 2024 / / One comment
In just 3 weeks, Los Angeles will complete a Decade of Failure as traffic deaths continue to climb.
And yet, not one city official has so much as mentioned the impending Vision Zero deadline, which we will fail to meet on January 1st.
Then again, it’s hard to make much progress when the city failed to fund it, did next to nothing and never took it seriously. 

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It’s Day 12 of the 10th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

Thanks to Stephen S and Michael G for their generous donations to keep all the best bike news and advocacy coming to your favorite screen every morning.

So what are you waiting for?

Stop what you’re doing and donate now! 

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Breaking: Check the status of your route if you’re planning to ride in Malibu today.

A late fire broke out near the Pepperdine area last night, rapidly spreading to both sides of Malibu Canyon Road.

Malibu Canyon will definitely be closed today, and PCH could be affected by morning. Air quality on PCH will depend on which way the wind is blowing; an offshore wind would bring smoke from the fire, which is highly toxic, to the entire coastal area.

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Guilty. Sort of.

Former world champ cyclist Rohan Dennis pled guilty to a reduced charge in the death of his wife, fellow Olympic cyclist Melissa Hoskins, last December.

The 34-year old Dennis faces a maximum of seven years behind bars and a five-year loss of license for accepting a plea of one count of aggravated creating the likelihood of harm, after prosecutors dropped the initial charges of dangerous driving causing death and driving without due care.

However, nothing has been said in court yet to explain the events leading to Hoskins death.

Initial reports suggested Hoskins fell from the hood of Dennis’ SUV as he tried to speed away from their home, falling to the roadway while trying to reach down to open the door.

Allegedly.

Dennis is due to be sentenced at a date to be set later.

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Glendale’s North Brand Boulevard Complete Streets Demonstration Project is drawing mixed reviews, with competing petitions calling for ripping it out or making improvements.

Bike Walk Glendale calls for supporting Option 1 at tonight’s city council meeting to determine its fate.

A petition supporting the project currently has just 271 signatures.

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Streets For All calls for emailing your support for the proposed protected bike lanes on Forest Lawn Drive.

Forest Lawn Dr has long been a key route for cyclists to get to/from Griffith Park. It’s also been a dangerous street, with 74% of vehicles driving above the speed limit. Between 2013 and 2023, there have been 95 crashes, with 3 people being severely injured or killed.

For over two years, Councilmember Nithya Raman has been working with LADOT and the Bureau of Street Services to repave the street and add protection to the bike lanes, while right-sizing the number of vehicle lanes compared to demand.

Meanwhile, Streets Are For Everyone’s petition supporting the project stands at just a handful of signatures; I plan on adding my name to it in the morning.

And Michael Guzik forwards word that the overwhelming majority of commenters at last week’s open house opposed the project, which I’m told included a number of morticians who might be slightly inconvenienced by it.

Which could be a problem, since we’ve learned the hard way here in LA that it’s not a question of what has the most support, but who screams the loudest.

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It’s now 355 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And a full 42 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

The program is finally scheduled to launch December 18th, so get your application in.

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going. 

The 23-year old man accused of killing a bike-riding mom when he intentionally drove into her ebike in Derbyshire, England has been ordered to stand trial next year on a charge of murder, as well as attempted murder for seriously injuring the man she was riding with.

No bias here. A British restaurant owner complains that a “pointless” bike lane and the resulting loss of parking is destroying his business, despite city officials pointing out that safe and attractive streets boost economic activity.

But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly. 

The blind leader of a Scottish charity for the visually impaired says he and the group’s cofounder were threatened by a bike rider who allegedly sped through a red-light and nearly crashed into their guide dogs as they were crossing the street, as the rider screamed that he had the right-of-way.

An 85-year old Japanese man was killed when a 16-year old girl crashed her bike into him while riding on a walking path, saying she didn’t see him because her head was down due to the cold. A reminder that no matter what conditions you’re riding in, always keep your head up and watch where you’re going. 

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Local  

Los Angeles will install one hundred license plate readers in 50 locations throughout the city in an effort to fight crime, which could be helpful in identifying hit-and-run drivers.

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton offers his typically great photos from Sunday’s CicLAvia in the West San Fernando Valley.

Metro approved $135 million to move forward on the long-delayed NoHo-to-Pasadena Bus Rapid Transit, aka BRT, and Complete Streets project to get it ready for the pre-construction phase.

Claremont resident Donna Orange was honored with a ghost bike ceremony in Upland Saturday; the 80-year old world-class endurance bicyclist and renowned psychologist was killed when she was left-crossed by a driver while she was riding through an intersection, apparently with the right-of-way.

 

State

Orange County’s Bay View Trail pedestrian bridge underwent an unexpected closure at the Upper Newport Bay Nature Preserve yesterday. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the link. 

Cutbacks in California’s Active Transportation Program hit the San Diego area hard, with all 16 proposed projects denied state funding.

This is who we share the road with. Eleven people watching a Palm Springs holiday parade were injured when a police officer lost control of his motorcycle while reportedly attempting a wheelie to entertain the crowd; the motorcycle cop was expected to recover from a hand injury. Although his reputation and job prospects may be another matter. 

 

National

Gear Junkie looks at the year’s best e-foldies.

Momentum recommends the 12 best US cities to live in if you ride a bicycle, none of which is Los Angeles, although San Diego made the list.

The police chief of Wenatchee, Washington got into an “SUV vs bicycle” fender bender on Friday, even though most bicycles don’t have fenders and it was the bike rider, not the bicycle, who was likely to suffer the consequences; fortunately, the victim was not seriously injured.

Seattle is getting a new bike and pedestrian bridge over a major highway this weekend.

They get it, anyway. A Las Vegas TV station put responsibility for a fatal bike crash on the driver of a semi-truck, rather than blaming the truck itself; the victim was reportedly riding in a crosswalk when the driver blew through the red light without stopping.

‘Tis the season. Milwaukee’s annual Santa Cycle Rampage drew a record number of riders, with up to 2000 official participants. Which implies there may have been even more unofficial participants. 

A review finds that over half of Minnesotans who received an ebike rebate had incomes over $80,000, suggesting they could probably hav purchased one without assistance from the state, while two out of five had incomes over a hundred grand.

In a pleasant change, over 250 local residents and business signed a letter urging support for a proposed Complete Streets project in Evanston, Illinois, after a handful of business owners opposed it.

New York’s annual bicycling survey showed a record number of riders for the fourth year in a row; the city counts bicyclists crossing the city’s East River bridges to extrapolate estimates for the rest of the city.

Ride Apart says Gotham’s proposal to license and insure ebikes just sounds like a cash grab.

Philadelphia is making a little more progress with their Vision Zero program, compared to Los Angeles, as traffic deaths declined slightly though they’re still higher than during the pandemic.

 

International

Good news from the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, where a 47-year old Canadian man was found relatively safe after two days lost deep in the jungle, after disappearing while riding his bike; a friend described the experience as “a Tarzan story.”

He gets it, too. An advisor to British Conservative Prime Ministers Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak urged the party to stop bashing bicyclists, arguing that the “enormous noise on social media” and “hate” felt by some party members doesn’t mean that bikes are “vote losers with the general public.” We learned the same lesson here when Measure HLA passed with two-thirds support this year, despite a flood of negative comments. 

‘Tis the season, two. Residents of a Kiwi retirement home refurbished 20 bicycles to give to local kids.

 

Competitive Cycling

Legendary cyclist Eddy Merckx was hospitalized with a broken hip after what his wife termed a “stupid accident” while riding his bike; it’s was the second hospitalization for the 79-year old Cannibal in recent months, after he had surgery for a bowel obstruction earlier this year.

Bicycling Australia remembers 1920’s cycling champ Sir Hubert Opperman, a four-time national champ and record-setting winner of the 726-mile nonstop Paris-Brest-Paris tour in 1931; his cycling career ended after serving as a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Australian Air Force in WWII, later serving 17 years in the Australian Parliament.

British cycling fans get out the torches and pitchforks, as Mark Cavendish gets snubbed for the Beeb’s Sports Personality of the Year, despite setting the record for Tour de France stage wins.

 

Finally…

Who says fast bikes have to be pretty? You may never win a stage in a Grand Tour, but maybe your next bike did.

And who says you can’t carry a Christmas tree home on a bike, artificial or otherwise?

The tree, that is. Not the bike.

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Driver arrested in grisly Willowbrook hit-and-run, and PCH killer of 4 Pepperdine students allegedly driving 104 mph

October 27, 2023 / / Comments Off on Driver arrested in grisly Willowbrook hit-and-run, and PCH killer of 4 Pepperdine students allegedly driving 104 mph

My apologies for yesterday’s unexcused absence. 

I suffered a bad blood sugar crash Wednesday night, dropping down to a dangerous level and unable to get it back up; I was minutes from waking my wife to take me to the ER when it finally started rising again. 

Good times. 

Photo by Kindel Media from Pexels.

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Police arrested a driver for the gruesome hit-and-run that killed a Willowbrook bike rider Tuesday morning.

Sixty-six-year old Compton resident Felipe Avalos was arrested later Tuesday after witnesses provided LAPD investigators with the license number of the van he was allegedly driving when he ran over 65-year old Francisco Gonzalez.

Avalos is accused of dragging Gonzalez’ body nearly a mile under the van as he twisted and turned to make his escape.

Witnesses reported that Avalos appeared to intentionally run down Gonzalez on his bike, but police investigators have been unable to corroborate that.

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Twenty-two-year old Fraser Michael Bohm, the driver who killed four Pepperdine sorority sisters in a collateral damage crash as they stood next to PCH last week, was allegedly traveling 104 mph in a 45 mph zone at the time of the crash.

Bohm is charged with four counts of each of felony malice murder and felony gross vehicular manslaughter, and remains behind bars on $4 million bond.

His attorney claims, apparently with a straight face, that Bohm was speeding in an attempt to get away from road-raging driver, and wasn’t doing more than 70 mph as he tried to escape.

Although you’d think he might have mentioned something like that to the cops after the crash.

Or maybe they just didn’t believe him.

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The 72-year old bike rider who survived the vehicular violence rampage that killed former Bell CA police chief Andreas “Andy” Probst labeled the two teenagers accused of intentionally running him down as “human garbage.”

Meanwhile, the two teens were disgustingly observed laughing, and flipping the bird at Probst’s family during Wednesday’s court hearing.

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Gravel Bike California visits Maverick Cycles.

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Jimmy Fallon is one of us.

Although maybe he should invest in a good bike cam, instead of flipping his bike trying to ride one-handed to record his daughter’s bike riding.

Note: This is not Jimmy Fallon.

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GCN suggests using your cellphone as your bike computer.

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.

A 34-year old Madison, Wisconsin man pled guilty to two lousy charges of second-degree recklessly endangering safety for repeatedly stringing wires over a local bike path, catching at least one bike rider by the neck; police showed how seriously they weren’t taking the case when DNA pointed to the subject, and they waited five months to go back when no one answered the door at his home.

An anti-semetic DC driver used his SUV to block a Jewish mother taking her child to school in a cargo bike, calling them “the devil” and yelling “I don’t give a fuck about your safety. Your life is not my concern.” There’s no place for racism or anti-semitism in this world. Or any other form of hatred.

But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

A Santa Rosa street vendor was busted for riding his tricycle around the city selling ice cream, chicharrónes, snacks and other items, including cocaine and meth.

A British woman suffered “potentially life-threatening” injuries when she was struck by someone riding a bicycle. But at least the bike rider stuck around and aided investigators this time.

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Local 

TV station NBC Los Angeles and KCRW’s Greater LA offer more information on Sunday’s ArroyoFest, which will let you bike or walk on the 110 Freeway for the first time in 20 years.

A Culver City group has filed a crowdfunded lawsuit challenging the legality of the newly conservative city council’s decision to rip out the MOVE Culver City pilot project without conducting an environmental review.

Pasadena received $12 million from the state for the design and construction of proposed north-south greenways.

Long Beach has approved over a half million dollars to begin work on the proposed Orange Avenue Backbone Bikeway from Signal Hill to East Ocean Blvd, although that’s just a drop in the bucket compared to the total $13 million cost.

 

State

Autonomous vehicle provider Cruise had their California permit yanked by the DMV, which discovered the company had omitted video of one of its cars dragging a pedestrian after a crash.

Garden Grove is working on becoming bike-friendly, with work starting on five new bike lanes in the coming months.

Emeryville, home to bike-friendly mayor John Bauters, installed a short, quick-build curb-protected bikeway, part of the mayor’s plan to connect the Bay Trail across the city.

A new Oakland bike co-op will give young people a chance to build or repair bikes they can take home for free, while hiring formerly incarcerated people to give them a second chance at life, too.

They get it. Santa Rosa’s Press-Democrat says bring on the bike valet.

 

National

Bicycling says be quiet, trolls; we’re trying to start the body-positive bicycling revolution. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.

A writer for Bike Magazine offers a justification for procrastination, listing ten things she’d rather do than clean her bike.

Men’s Health offers advice on how to lose weight by bicycling. I had to add weight training before the extra pounds came off, but maybe that’s just me. You can read it on AOL if the magazine blocks you. 

An Arizona man just completed a seven-month, 13,000-mile ride around the US.

Police in Las Vegas finally arrested the driver who killed BMX star Nathan “Nate” Miller as he rode a bike last month, a week after a local TV station aired video showing the 32-year old driver speeding and quickly changing lanes before crashing into Miller.

Normally tight-fisted Texas has approved nearly $345 million for bicycle and pedestrian projects across the state. Then again, it is a big state.

Some Amish communities in Pennsylvania and Ohio are abandoning their traditional horses and wagons in favor of ebikes.

Fatherly says the Erie Canal trail offers a 360-mile epic family bike ride through 200 years of American history.

Electrek describes the new Semi-Trike cargo bike from Brooklyn-based Civilized Cycles as a cross between a five-wheeled semi-truck and an ebike.

A New Jersey driver faces multiple charges for killing a 12-year old girl riding a bicycle last month, and critically injuring a 14-year old girl riding with her.

A DC bike rider wonders what the hell that thing in the bike lane is, apparently upon seeing their first bus island.

A couple dozen federal workers in DC turned out to call for more bike friendly routes for the more than 160,000 federal workers in the city, as government employees are being called back to the office.

Evidently, the hit-and-run epidemic involving bike riders has spread to Florida’s Tampa Bay.

 

International

Sales for bike helmet tech company MIPS are down a third, more evidence of a post-pandemic slump in bicycling.

Police in a pair of UK cities are recommending that bicyclists vary their routes home, because thieves could follow them, and come back later to steal things.

English bike brand Islabikes is the latest bikemaker to go belly-up, as it moves to cease production and sales once remaining stocks are sold.

An English man completed a 3,000-mile 41-day ride from Gloucester to Istanbul to raise funds to buy a pair of adaptive bikes for charity.

Iconic British bikemaker Pashley is starting a crowdfunding campaign to help it explore the ebike market.  I’ll be the first to sign up for an e-Guv’nor, thank you.

Momentum examines how Utrecht’s Vredenburg become one of the busiest cycling routes in the world.

Life is cheap in Singapore, where a 70-year old man got a lousy 12-weeks behind bars for killing a man riding a bike after blowing through a crosswalk while driving without a license. But at least he got a nine-year ban on driving, although that didn’t seem to stop him this time.

Austrian company Tubolito is building a “nanogenerator” into its trademark orange bicycle inner tubes that acts like a mini-dynamo to power a wireless tire pressure sensor.

 

Competitive Cycling

Heartbreaking news from Hong Kong, where rising Dutch cycling star Mark Groeneveld died of a suspected heart attack, collapsing moments after finishing a track event; he was just 20 years old.

The route for next year’s Tour de France was released, with no Paris finish for the first time in more than a century due to the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Gravel cyclist Anne-Marije Rook discovers that carbon frames can be repaired, after Unbound Gravel destroyed her bike, and a repair shop gave it a second life.

A Maryland high school student intends to be the first Black woman to represent the US cycling team, taking aim at the 2028 LA Olympics.

 

Finally…

If you’re going to flee from police on your bike, try to find a better hiding place. If you’re going to steal four bikes from a university campus, remember to take your backpack with you when you leave.

And Loki and Mobius are two of us, if you look hard enough.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

4 murder counts in PCH deaths of Pepperdine students, trial set for LV teens, and Bass flip flops on 90 Freeway removal

October 25, 2023 / / Comments Off on 4 murder counts in PCH deaths of Pepperdine students, trial set for LV teens, and Bass flip flops on 90 Freeway removal

I’m writing this after getting the second in a series of shots directly into my right eye to control retinal bleeding caused by diabetes. 

So please forgive me if I miss a few mistakes today, because I can’t read shit right now. 

Just one more reason diabetes sucks. 

……..

This is who we share the road with.

Sheriff’s deputies re-arrested Fraser Michael Bohm on Tuesday, the 22-year old driver accused of killing four Pepperdine University sorority sisters last week.

Bohm was allegedly speeding on PCH in the BMW he got for his 18th birthday when he slammed into three parked cars, which then crashed into the victims. He stands charged with four counts of murder, and being held on $8 million bond.

Yes, million.

The question is what evidence deputies have developed to justify a murder charge, let alone four. Under California law, elevating vehicular manslaughter to murder would require evidence that Bohm knew his actions were likely to result in death.

Meanwhile, enraged community members stored Monday’s Malibu city council session to demand action to improve safety on SoCal’s killer highway.

That included calls for speed cams, which are currently only allowed in Los Angeles, Glendale and Long Beach, along with three NorCal cities, under a recently passed pilot program.

But what’s really needed is a redesign of the highway with protected bike lanes, walkways and traffic calming measures to make speeding difficult, if not impossible. And turn LA County’s deadliest highway into the Malibu Main Street it always should have been.

A petition from a grieving father calls for much-needed immediate and long-term action to improve safety on the highway.

……..

A trial date has been set for next year for the two Las Vegas high school students charged with the intentional hit-and-run killing of former Bell CA police chief Andreas “Andy” Probst.

Jesus Ayala and Jzamir Keys — who were 17 and 16, respectively, at the time of the crash — are scheduled to be tried as adults beginning September 16th, 2024.

Meanwhile, new video has emerged of the teens running down the second victim in a stolen car that day, laughing as they injured a 72-year old man less than an hour before killing Probst.

……..

Why am I not surprised?

LA Mayor Karen Bass was for removing the 90 Freeway stub and turning it into a linear park and housing before she was against it.

And people wonder why I don’t trust city officials.

……..

Yet another community introduces an ebike rebate before California’s long-delayed program finally launches.

If it ever does.

………

Nothing like getting run down head-on by a driver because he couldn’t see what was directly in front of his car.

………

That’s gonna leave a mark.

This is what it looks like to hit another mountain biker head-on.

………

Thousands of bike riders turned out for Key West’s annual Zombie Bike Ride.

………

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.

A Hollister bike rider suffered head injuries when he was intentionally run down by a pickup driver after getting into an altercation with the driver and his passenger at a gas station

New York officials abruptly shut down a vital Queens bike path without any public input, notification or explanation, though a city council member was happy to take credit, blaming it on an “influx of ebikes and cars.”

Huh? A London writer says it’s time to regulate ebikes modified to exceed speed restrictions — which means that they’re already illegal.

No bias here. A writer in the UK says we all need to wear hi-viz vests in order to reduce traffic deaths. Might as well just call for clown makeup to complete the outfit while he’s at it.

But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

An Illinois man faces drug and resisting arrest charges after fleeing from cops who tried to stop him for riding without a light; he evaded officers by riding through alleys and people’s backyards, before they tased him as he tried to enter his home.

………

Local 

Streetsblog looks at new bus-bike lanes on Sepulveda and Ventura blvds.

Bike Walk Glendale is calling on you to make your voice heard on the city’s Bicycle Transportation Plan, with a pair of public meetings next month.

Streetsblog’s SGV Connect podcast celebrates the first anniversary of the GoSGV bike lending program, while rising local writer Carribean Fragoza reads a nonfiction piece about a scary bike crash while riding alone and underprepared on industrial Rush Street.

Pasadena Now looks forward to Sunday’s first carfree Arroyo Fest on the 100 Freeway in 20 years.

 

State

Calbike talks with board member Yolanda Davis-Overstreet, a mobility justice strategist who directed and co-produced a pair of films on Biking While Black, as well as a guide to the movies.

Huntington Beach opened the city’s first bike boulevard on Utica Ave.

A San Diego man suffered memory loss after an e-scooter crash, unable to even remember getting married or having a kid.

A Hemet middle school student was lucky to escape without injuries when he was struck by a hit-and-run driver, after reportedly riding his bike into traffic without looking while biking to school.

Visalia will soon be the first city in California’s Central Valley to have protected intersections.

 

National

PopSugar presents the best balance bikes for toddlers.

An Oregon legislator wants to legalize ped-assist ebikes for kids under 16, while maintaining the current ban on throttle-controlled ebikes.

Boulder, Colorado is the first city to bring concrete tall curbs to the United States to separate bike lanes and vehicle travel lanes. Even though it looks like standard K-rail. 

Bike Portland’s Jonathan Maus offers a photo essay of New Yorkers on bikes.

New York considers a pair of bills to regulate ebike delivery riders, including requiring an ebike safety course and making providers cover the cost for safety equipment and safe ebike batteries.

A Maryland TV station says your next car could be an ebike.

Tragic news from North Carolina, where a man died after he was struck by a driver while riding 67 miles to celebrate his 67th birthday.

That’s more like it. Atlanta is introducing an app showing the location of bike racks throughout the city.

 

International

A group of 19 leading companies in the automotive, bicycling & tech sectors have banded together to develop a smart V2X communication system to help improve the ‘digital visibility’ of bicyclists and other vulnerable road users. As long as you’e willing to wear some sort of digital sensor that matches the one only some drivers are using, anyway.

A writer for Cycling Weekly gets explosive results when she experiments with bicarb supplements — but thankfully, not in terms of gastrointestinal issues.

A Canadian bike rider was lucky to avoid becoming collateral damage when two drivers collided right in front of him.

Police in Birmingham, England used lights and sirens to pull over a woman and her eight-year old granddaughter as they rode their bikes — not for any traffic violation, but just a little friendly safety advice about wearing helmets.

No bias here, either. British tabloids are accusing London’s cycling czar with “cherry picking” stats to show bike ridership has tripled in a busy part of London in order to justify more spending on bike lanes; critics accuse him of counting bicycle delivery riders, who are, in fact, riding bicycles, and would all be using cars if they weren’t.

While Paris becomes increasingly welcoming to bike riders, France’s fifth-largest city is banning bikes, scooters and skateboards from the city center

 

Competitive Cycling

Slovenian cycling star Primož Roglič says he planned to jump to the Bora-Hansgrohe team before the recent drama at the Vuelta, when it became clear that Jonas Vingegaard would be team leader, and super domestique Sepp Kuss won the race. As usual, read it on Yahoo if Bicycling blocks you.

Meanwhile, Kuss says he thinks it’s better for everyone if Roglič is on another team. Ditto. 

Video captures “absolute carnage” during the men’s elimination race at Saturday’s UCI Track Champions League, as a mid race crash takes competitors down like bowling pins.

 

Finally…

Presenting an ebike for people who don’t want anyone to know you’re riding an ebike. Your next bike could have an airbag — or you could, anyway.

And you can now get a new ped-assist ebike foldie for less than $900. But you could have had a 121-year old Steffey ped-assist, gas-powered motor-bike instead.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Four Pepperdine students dead thanks to official inaction on deadly PCH, and more context-free San Diego ebike panic

October 19, 2023 / / 5 comments

This is who we share the road with.

Tuesday night, four young Pepperdine University students were killed by an alleged speeding driver on Southern California’s killer highway.

The four 20-year old college seniors were standing on the side of the road in an area locals call Dead Man’s Curve when the 22-year old driver slammed into three parked cars, knocking them into the women.

And making them all collateral damage on a roadway designed and build to accommodate, if not encourage, high speeds.

The driver, Fraser Michael Bohm, was booked on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, which will likely be upgraded to four counts once he’s arraigned.

It’s only a pity that the people who have gone out of their way to keep this killer highway dangerous and deadly won’t face charges with him.

It was nearly a decade ago that I began representing the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, now BikeLA, on the PCH Task Force.

The task force was created by the state legislators who then represented the Malibu, Pacific Palisades, Santa Monica and Ventura County areas to address safety and other concerns on the highway, with input from the various stakeholders.

The LACBC took an interest because PCH is such a popular route for bicyclists of all kinds. And claimed so many as victims.

In fact, it is the single most deadly roadway for bike riders in Los Angeles and Orange counties.

The LACBC joined with other representatives to demand safety improvements to the highway, ranging from road diets and protected bike lanes, to eliminating roadside parking and reducing speed limits.

In almost every case, we were told what we were asking for was impossible. We were told the road, Malibu’s 22-mile long main street, was necessary to funnel commuters from Ventura County and the San Fernando Valley in and out of the LA area.

The overly wide traffic lanes, high speed limits that were nearly universally exceeded, slip lane right turns and roadside parking were all necessary to prevent excessive traffic congestion, or so we were told.

Never mind they also encouraged speeding drivers weaving in and out of slower traffic 22 hours a day. And put bike riders at needless risk of right hooks and dooring.

Caltrans, which has responsibility for the roadway, could have taken steps to dramatically improve safety years ago.

They didn’t.

Malibu, Los Angeles and Santa Monica could have demanded changes that would have saved lives.

They didn’t.

Sure, minor changes were made. A painted bike lane here, widening the shoulder there. But the killer highway remained, and remains, a deadly speedway for most of the day and night.

Now four young women, who did nothing to put their lives in danger, are dead — victims of an alleged speeding driver, and the officials, engineers and bureaucrats who enabled him.

The young man behind the wheel is likely to be middle-aged before he gets out of prison, unless an overly lenient judge takes pity on him.

It’s just a pity that the others who have worked so hard to keep PCH so deadly won’t be there with him.

What a fucking waste.

A 2013 publication highlights the joys of biking sans helmets on SoCal’s deadliest highway.

……..

San Diego media sources were whipped into a tizzy by “startling new statistics” from the city’s Rady Children’s Hospital, which shows increasing rates of ebike and e-scooter injuries, especially among children.

Yet once again, they fail to put any of it in context.

Injuries can be expected to rise with increasing rates of any activity. If more people started playing Frisbee golf, we’d see rising rates of arm and impact injuries as a result.

What matters is whether those injuries are rising faster than the increase in ridership, or becoming more serious than a baseline of bicycling injuries.

Unless and until we have that context, reports like this are nothing more than a concerning, but anecdotal, data point.

……..

Frequent contributor Megan Lynch forwards news that UC Davis journalism students, not the professional press, are digging into what’s been done since a student was killed by a university employee while riding her bike.

I was lucky enough to be logged on to Mastodon at the time the MuckRock bot sent this through. Otherwise I’d never have known someone was finally making a CPRA request on this. Sadly, it was not made by UC Davis student journalists, but students in a journalism class at University of Nevada, Reno.

You may remember that (19-year old sophomore) Tris Yasay was killed by a yet-unnamed UC Davis employee driving a UC Davis sanitation truck on May 25, 2022. First responders were all UC Davis employees as well (UCDPD and UCDFD). Local press didn’t ask many questions and the few that the Davis Enterprise followed up on was because I got after the reporter about it. It still wasn’t what was needed.  UC Davis was successful in burying the questions.

Months later, its PR flacks linked the “accident” and the grant they applied for re “cyclist and pedestrian safety” that simply targets pedestrians and cyclists for re-education, not its own drivers.

So far as I know, UC Davis has not done any campaign to re-train its own drivers or at least it has not publicized one. I vaguely recall reading somewhere that the claim was that the driver could not see the cyclist in the side view mirror. In which case, the position and efficacy of these mirrors needs to be examined. Because cyclists are a regular feature of the UC Davis campus and if the side view does not accurately reflect what’s going on, drivers should be trained to crane their heads around and look for themselves BEFORE turning. “Blind” spots should be minimized on the vehicle.

But haven’t read about any of that happening.

I’m interested to see what the student journalist finds and if the MuckRock interface will let everyone see it when UC Davis responds. They also requested the City of Davis Bicycle Action Plan.

……..

Our Deutschland correspondent Ralph Durham forwards a newsletter from the ADFC, aka General German Bicycle Club, on the subject of licensing bicycles, and why that’s a bad idea.

Here is a link to the ADFC newsletter on the subject of bike license plates. And their list of reasons not to have them. A huge one is the cost because of bureaucracy. Something Germans know a little about.

However, you’ll either need to read German, or dump the story into a translation service like Google Translate.

……..

I used to ride this same route almost daily to get to Lake Hollywood when I first moved to Los Angeles about a hundred years ago.

It didn’t feel safe then, and it feels a lot less safe now.

………

Bike Talk posts their latest episode, starting with questioning the effectiveness of Vision Zero on both coasts.

………

LA County wants your input on proposed bike paths in the county.

https://twitter.com/streetsforall/status/1714684080581955821

………

Local 

West Hollywood’s city council voted to end the city’s e-scooter trial phase and extend their contracts with Lime and Bird, although by a narrow 3 to 2 margin; the increasingly conservative WeHoVille site predictably did not approve.

 

State

Calbike claims a number of “big” legislative victories that survived the governor’s desk, along with concerns about bills creating an ebike safety study and a Caltrans bike czar.

The Kern County coroner’s office has finally identified the 39-year-old woman killed by a driver while riding her bike in Bakersfield last month; the CHP continues to blame her for crossing in front of the driver’s car.

The two people killed by shifting lumber form a passing Freightliner truck while riding their bikes on Napa County’s Silverado Trail were identified as a married couple from Portland, Oregon; no word on why they were riding in Napa. It’s questionable whether the driver gave them the required three-foot passing distance, which might have spared them from the impact. 

No one seems to like San Francisco’s new Valencia Street centerline protected bike lane, as advocates call it dangerous and counterintuitive, while merchants along the street say it’s killing their business.

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition is looking for a new executive director once again, as current ED Jannelle Wong is stepping down after just 18 months on the job.

 

National

NPR reports on the recent study that shows regular bike riding can improve mental health for middle school students. Which is one more reason for Safe Routes to Schools. 

Bicycling offers a requiem and post-mortem for the popular Surly Cross Check, which has been discontinued by the bikemaker. This one doesn’t seem to be available from other sources, so you’re on your own if the magazine blocks you. 

Friends of 32-year old BMX champ Nathan “Nate” Miller want to know why the Las Vegas driver who killed him hasn’t been charged for the September crash, after security cam video surfaced showing the speeding driver jerking between lanes before crashing into Miller’s bike, then crashing into a fence and a parked vehicle.

The wife and daughter of fallen former Bell, California police chief Andreas “Andy” Probst first realized he was injured when they got an alert of a fall from his Apple Watch, then heard police sirens and helicopters just blocks from their Las Vegas home; two teens face murder charges for intentionally running down Probst in a stolen car, apparently just for the hell of it.

A 62-year old Florida woman has been identified as the hit-and-run driver captured in a viral video crashing into an 11-year-old girl riding her bike in a school parking lot, and pushing her at least 60 feet with the car; instead of helping the girl, she just got out of her car, asked if the victim was okay, and told her to just go home and take a shower.

Once again, a cop has killed someone riding a bicycle, this time in Marion County, Florida, where a 22-year old sheriff’s deputy ran down a 63-year old man early Wednesday; investigators quickly blamed the victim for riding on a dark roadway without a helmet or reflective clothing, or using lights on his bike. Because apparently, patrol cars in Florida don’t have headlights that could have illuminated someone riding a bike.

 

International

Momentum offers 13 helpful tips for a worry-free first-time bike commuting experience.

Inside EVs says the new European Declaration on Cycling offers 36 principles aimed at advancing bicycling in the European Union, laying the groundwork for future legislation to unlock the full potential of bicycles.

An Australian woman has been seriously injured riding her bike, less than a week after warning a Victoria state parliamentary inquiry into road safety about the extreme risks bicyclists face on the country’s roads.

 

Competitive Cycling

Sad news from Arizona, where longtime bike racer John Timbers, a previous winner of the Iron Horse Classic and the Manhattan Beach Grand Prix, and founder of Arizona’s Vuelta de Bisbee stage race nearly five decades ago, was killed by a hit-and-run driver while riding his bike in Tucson early Tuesday morning; he was 78.

 

Finally…

That feeling when a trio of random tweets tells a story about traffic violence and automotive hegemony. Nothing like suffering a daily aerial assault on your bike commute.

And who says you can’t do stunts on a heavy-ass bikeshare bike?

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Morning Links: Green bike lanes coming to Beverly Hills, and windshield bias from Pepperdine economics prof

February 9, 2018 / / One comment

Hell is about to freeze over.

After years of telling us it was impossible and repeatedly voting it down, Beverly Hills has given final approval for bike lanes on Santa Monica Blvd, between Wilshire Blvd and Doheny Drive.

The city council also overrode a staff recommendation for white striped lanes with a little green paint at key conflict zones, instead voting for green lanes the entire length, at a cost of around $100,000 — nearly triple the staff’s $35,000 budget.

Which should give you an idea just how cheap bike lanes really are.

The work should be done sometime this spring.

Thanks should go to Beverly Hills’ bike-friendly Mayor Lili Bosse, as well as Better Bike’s Mark Elliot, who continued a quixotic and nearly solitary fight for the lanes, long after others had given up.

Myself included.

Photo from Beverly Hills website.

………

I’d give this econ professor an F.

In an Op-Ed for the Orange County Register, Pepperdine’s Gary Galles writes that transit use is down because cars remain popular.

And that the reason they are so popular is because they are “vastly superior” transit and other forms of non-motorized transportation.

Many things are already in motion to solve transit agencies’ problems. For instance, in 2015, Los Angeles began a 20-year plan to remove auto lanes for bus and protected bike lanes, as well as pedestrian enhancements, diverting transportation funds raised from drivers and heightening congestion for the vast majority who planners already know will continue to drive.

Such less than effective attempts to cut driving by creating gridlock purgatory suggest we ask a largely ignored question. Why do planners’ attempts to force residents into walking, cycling and mass transit, supposedly improving their quality of life, attract so few away from driving?

The reason is simple — cars are vastly superior to alternatives for the vast majority of individuals and circumstances.

Of course, what he fails to consider from his windshield-perspective perch overlooking PCH is that drivers around Southern California already complain about massive traffic congestion.

And, in fact, one of the reasons bus use is less attractive that driving is that bus schedules are constantly thrown off by all those people in cars jamming streets beyond their practical capacity.

So what traffic planners are attempting isn’t to create a gridlock purgatory.

It’s dealing with the traffic congestion hell we already find ourselves in, and preparing for an otherwise dystopian future in which more and more people try to jam themselves into an already built-out traffic system that can no longer be expanded.

So unless we provide those people with safe, practical alternatives to driving, our streets will continue to get worse with every new car added to the grid.

That means more frequent and reliable transit, and safer walking and biking. Which in some cases will require making traffic worse in the short term in order to make it better in the long term.

As an economics professor, he should understand that.

But as a shill for the motor vehicle industry, he’s doing a damn good job.

………

The Hollywood Hills West Neighborhood Council will discuss the draft Hollywood Community Plan at the William & Ariel Durant Library, 7140 West Sunset Blvd on Wednesday, Feb. 21, from 6-8 pm.

If you live, work or ride in bikeway-challenged Hollywood, you’ll want to be there to support the bike lanes described in Section 6 of the plan.

Because the Hollywood Hills homeowners will undoubtedly turn out in force once again to complain about density and traffic congestion. As well as bike lanes, if they think it will contribute to either one.

Thanks to the West Hollywood Bicycle Coalition for the heads-up.

………

Local

A Pacoima square will be dedicated in honor of fallen cyclist Saul Lopez, the 15-year old boy who was collateral damage in a crash between two cars at Glenoaks Boulevard and Vaughn Street after one of the drivers ran a red light.

 

State

Coronado, where bike lanes give residents vertigo, considers improving bike safety by replacing stop signs with roundabouts; needless to say, not everyone approves.

The annual Tour de Palm Springs rolls this weekend, and a letter writer says it’s rude to ride two or more abreast and force drivers to change lanes (scroll down) to go around them. Even though that’s exactly what drivers are supposed to do, unless there’s a solid yellow line.

A Bakersfield columnist shares the joys of his regular Saturday morning group ride, which has been riding together for over 20 years.

Not so fast on the bike boulevard in San Luis Obispo, as the cycle track portion of the project has been put on hold after residents rise up to demand their God-given right to free street parking.

The former mayor of SLO tries to out-crazy the Coronado NIMBY’s, describing the planned bikeway as “urban rape … not to be performed by a male penis, but by thousands of inanimate bicycles … .” No, seriously.

Three-time world champ Peter Sagan will host a pair of California fondos, starting with a gravel ride in Truckee this May, and a road ride in a city TBD in November.

 

National

Nice idea. In an attempt to support sustainable transportation, a Washington couple builds a small Bike Hut on the edge of their property, providing riders in need with spare tubes, chain lube and other small necessities.

A Montana paper looks at the efforts of rural towns to capitalize on bicycle tourism.

Zen and the art of bicycle maintenance in Minneapolis.

After moving off campus, a Johns Hopkins University student discovers the joys of bicycling in Baltimore and the city’s monthly Bike Party.

A writer from Los Angeles falls head-over-heels — literally — for mountain biking just a few hours outside Atlanta. And wonders why he doesn’t do it more here in California.

 

International

A couple of British pub owners ride the length of South America, covering over 3,000 miles from Chile to Argentina.

A London physician gets it, saying the city’s Camden neighborhood won’t meet its smog reduction goals without a greater emphasis on bicycling and presumed liability. If you’re unfamiliar with the concept, presumed liability assumes the operator of the more dangerous vehicle is at fault in any collision, unless it can be proven that the other party is at fault, because they have a greater responsibility to avoid crashes due to their ability to cause greater harm.

A British coroner rules that a velodrome did not follow safety guidelines when a cyclist was killed in a 35 mph crash with another rider in 2014.

An Aussie letter writer says bicycles should be required to have bells, since there’s apparently no other way to politely warn others a bike is approaching. And seems to be under the illusion that drivers politely yield to people on bikes and on foot.

 

Competitive Cycling

An entre Italian amateur team gets busted for systematic doping (scroll down) following the heart attack death of a 21-year old cyclist last May. But sure, tell us again how the era of doping is over.

VeloNews previews this year’s Amgen Tour of California, and says the key stages will be the famed Gibraltar climb and the time trial in Morgan Hill. And looks at how the pros overcome the fear of failure and getting hurt.

 

Finally…

Evidently, I’m not actually a road cyclist. Maybe someday you’ll ride wearing an inflatable flak jacket.

And today is International Winter Bike to Work Day.

So pat yourself on the back if you were able to somehow endure Southern California’s sunny winter weather on your way to work this morning.

Category: Morning Links, Streets and Infrastructure / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
 
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